Robert Gates Is Not Impressed With Trump’s Foreign Policy Approach

The former defense secretary said he doesn't even know what Trump's plan is to handle ISIS.
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WASHINGTON -- Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates didn’t have nice things to say about Donald Trump’s foreign policy, warning against the candidate’s brazen style and lack of consistency on Sunday.

In an interview with CBS’ "Face the Nation," Gates said the presumptive Republican nominee for president “seems to think he has all the answers and that he doesn’t need any advice from staff or anybody else."

Gates added that Trump doesn’t appear to want to surround himself with “informed advisers.”

Pointing to the inconsistencies in Trump’s comments about how he would work with U.S. allies and defeat the self-described Islamic State, Gates said Trump should be careful when calling for a trade war with China one minute and asking for the country’s help on North Korea the next.

"I have no idea what his policy would be in terms of dealing with ISIS," Gates added. "I worry a little bit about his admiration for Vladimir Putin."

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), an adviser to Trump on foreign policy, tried to clarify the businessman’s plans to defeat ISIS during an interview on ABC’s "This Week” Sunday.

“We've got to unite all of our friends and allies in the region and Europe, NATO,” Sessions said. “And this can be done. We're going to have to defeat ISIS because it's a direct threat to us.”

Pressed for more specifics, Sessions said Trump would use “whatever forces we have in every way we can.” He added, “you’ve got to be smart about the utilization of force.”

“I think Donald Trump would say to the military, 'What do you need?”' Sessions said. “'What can we do to increase the pressure on them? I'll back you up.'”

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

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